10-11-2016 MinutesMINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
October 11, 2016
A Regular Meeting was held by the Schertz City Council of the City of Schertz, Texas, on October
11, 2016, at 6:00 p.m., in the Hal Baldwin Municipal Complex Council Chambers, 1400 Schertz
Parkway, Building #4, Schertz, Texas. The following members present to -wit:
Mayor Michael Carpenter
Councilmember Jim Fowler
Councilmember Daryl John
Staff Present:
Executive Director Dudley Wait
City Attorney Charles Zech
Call to Order — City Council Regular Session
Mayor Pro -Tern Cedric Edwards
Councilmember Grumpy Azzoz
Councilmember Robin Thompson
Executive Director Brian James
Assistant to the City Manager Sarah Gonzalez
City Secretary Brenda Dennis
Mayor Carpenter called the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m.
Opening Prayer and Pledges of Allegiance to the Flags of the United States and State of Texas.
( Councilmember Thompson)
Councilmember Thompson provided the opening prayer followed by the pledges of allegiance to the
flags of the United States and the State of Texas.
Recognition and Presentation
• Introduction of the Student Mayors and Student Councilmembers for the Day. (Mayor
Carpenter)
- Student Mayors — Dobie Jr. High, 8th Grade Hans Robinson Loja and Corbett Jr. High, 8t�
Grade Kale Peters
- Student Councilmembers — Dobie Jr. High, 7th Grade Brianna McGhee and Corbett Jr. High,
7th Grade Jordan Betterton
Mayor Carpenter recognized City Secretary Brenda Dennis who stated this is the second year we
have partnered with the Schertz Cibolo Universal City Independent School District Social Studies
Coordinator Rebecca Williams to involve the 7t' and 80' Grade students in learning about local
government. She stated that she, as well as Councilmembers Fowler and Thompson, were very
impressed with the students on how they interacted as they were provided an opportunity to hear a
presentation from staff and deliberate amongst themselves to provide their thoughts regarding a
possible change in the way the City is doing business. She stated the students received a small taste of
what the Mayor and Councilmembers provide to the City.
Ms. Dennis stated that with the assistance of Cpl. A. J. Arriaga from the Police department he
proposed to the students a possible amendment to our City Noise Ordinance. The students discussed,
deliberated and voted on a proposed amendment operating just as members of Council would.
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Mayor Carpenter recognized each student who provided information on what they learned today and
thanked all those individuals involved in the program.
Mayor Carpenter, City Manager John Kessel and Social Studies Coordinator Rebecca Williams
presented the students with certificates and plaques recognizing their participation in the City's
Mayor /Councilmember Student for the Day Program.
City Events and Announcements
• Announcements of upcoming City Events (B. James/D. Wait/S. Gonzalez)
Mayor Carpenter recognized Assistant to the City Manager Sarah Gonzalez who provided the
following announcements:
• Sunday, October 9 — Saturday, October 15, Fire Prevention Week.
• Wednesday, October 12, Groundbreaking of the Northeast Bexar County Sheriff
Substation, 10:00 a.m., Intersection of Loop 1604 and Rocket Lane, Converse,
Invitation from Commissioner Tommy Calvert, Precinct 4.
• Wednesday, October 12, Schertz Fire Dept. Station #2, Housing Ceremony, 19085
IH 35 N, 6:00 p.m. Ceremony will include words from elected and appointed officials,
invocation, ringing in and then everyone is invited to participate in the first "wash the
truck" event. Hotdogs and cake will be served.
• Wednesday, October 12, Meet the Candidates - Schertz, Schertz Civic Center — Bldg.
No. 5; discussion starts at 6:00 p.m.
• Thursday, October 13, Northeast Partnership for Economic Development meeting,
11:30 a.m. Olympia Hills Golf and Conference Center.
• Saturday, October 15, Caterpillar Open House Invitation, 1:00 p.m. -3:00 p.m.,
Caterpillar Schertz, 6800 Doerr Lane. If you are interested in attending please get with
Patty Horan with the EDC department.
• Tuesday, October 18, Groundbreaking — Comal ISD Middle School #6, 10:00 a.m.
Hubertus Road (West of I11-35)
• Tuesday, October 18, The Chamber Monthly Luncheon, 11:30 a.m. -1:00 p.m. at
the Schertz Civic Center.
• Thursday, October 20, Monthly Chamber Mixer, 5:30 p.m., Sure Point Self Storage,
17305 IH 35 North.
• Thursday, October 20, Steve Simonson Volunteer of the Year and Volunteer
Recognition Dinner, 6:30 p.m.- Social, 7:00 p.m.- Dinner, 8:00 p.m.- Awards, at the
Schertz Civic Center.
• Friday, October 21, Senior Center Spooktacular Halloween Party, 6:00 p.m. at the
Schertz Area Senior Center; costume contest, raffles and DJ.
• Saturday, October 22, Community Clean-up Day at Mobil Villa Neighborhood, IH-
35 N. access road between Schertz Parkway and FM 3009 sponsored by Love Where
You Live and the City of Schertz, 8:00 AM — 4:00 PM. Volunteers needed, for more
information call Jesse Hamilton at 619 -1671 or Mr. Fowler 326 -6017. The cleanup
will include yard work, tree trimming and minor maintenance for homes. Dumpsters
provided for residents to bring non - hazardous items for disposal.
• Saturday, October 22, Schertz Police Department Men's Softball Tournament, 2600
TX -21, San Marcos, San Marcos Gary Softball Complex, 8:00 AM. Proceeds given to
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families of the fallen offices involved in the Dallas shooting on July 7, 2016. Contact
Adam Samaniego at the Police Department.
• Saturday, October 22, SCUCISD Education Foundation Casino Night Fundraiser,
5:00 p.m. — 10:30 p.m., Schertz Civic Center. For more information go to their
website at www.scucisdfoundation.com.
• Announcements and recognitions by City Manager (J. Kessel)
Mayor Carpenter recognized City Manager John Kessel who stated he wanted to highlight last
Tuesday evening when the City celebrated National Night Out. All the City Council
participated in getting out to many neighborhoods and he believes they averaged five
neighborhoods per Councilmember with a total of about 30 neighborhoods. Mr. Kessel
thanked Officer Helen Lafitte who spearheaded all the coordination with the various HOA's
for months and the City Secretary's office for coordinating the event. This was very well
received. As another tag -on, the Councilmembers and Staff presented buttons which say
"Vote Local — Vote Schertz ". We have been trying to make certain that citizens realize there
is a local election both with the City and the School District that is not a partisan race and
therefore you have to scroll down on the upcoming ballot to actually vote for the local
candidates. We want to make sure we are encouraging citizens to vote and to vote local, vote
Schertz. The Public Affairs team, Linda, Melissa, Chuck and others participated in this in-
house design and did a great job with this campaign. Mr. Kessel stated that the City Secretary
has been pushing this idea as well and was happy with the button.
New Employee Recognitions:
• Animal Services — Animal Shelter Technician — Megan Lagunas (D. Wait/M. Harris /S.
O'Brien)
• EDC — Business Retention Manager — Jennifer Kolbe (J. Kessel/K. Kinateder)
• Fleet Department — Fleet Mechanic I - Stephen Gillard. (D. Wait/J. Harshman)
• Public Works Department — Drainage Worker I — Christian Herrera, Service Man I — Darryl
Cunningham, Street Worker I —Nathan Rodriguez. (D. Wait/J. Hooks)
Each new staff member was introduced to Council by their Department Manager /Supervisor who
also provided a short bio on them. Each employee was allowed an opportunity to speak if they
wished. Mayor and Council welcomed all the new employees to City Staff.
Proclamation
• Proclamation recognizing Domestic Violence Awareness Month. (D. Wait/N. Solis- Douglass)
Mayor Carpenter recognized Regional Crime Victim Liaison Nicole Douglass who accepted
the proclamation.
Workshop
• Discussion and update regarding the License Plate Readers. (D. Wait/S. Pulaski)
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Mayor Carpenter recognized Executive Director Dudley Wait and Deputy Marshal Lt. Steve
Pulaski who provided a PowerPoint presentation regarding the status of the License Plate
Readers. The following were highlights from the presentation:
Where we have been:
• Contacted by Vigilant Solutions in June, 2015
• Presentation to City Council, December 15, 2015
• Work done by involved departments and recommendation to NOT proceed with LPR's
at this time - received June 10, 2016
ALPRS ( "free ") not recommended
LPR (purchased) system desired at some point, but higher budget priorities at this time
• Letter from DOJ received May 3, 2016
Basis of Recommendation:
• Free system is paid for by using the vendor's money collection system which adds a
25% service fee to the amount due
• Can be used on both types of warrants
- Capias: Amounts due after case adjudicated (entered a plea, on a payment plan).
Usually smaller amounts due but good use of this type system because case already
adjudicated and fine just needs to be paid. Average outstanding amount is $325.
- Failure to Appear: Warrant issued after a person does not appear for their court
date after a citation has been issued. Case has not been adjudicated; citizen has not
entered a plea. These are more complicated due to no previous court appearance.
- On Failure to Appear (FTA) the 25% is added to the already in -place 30%
collections fee.
• For a single violation:
• Speeding: $384.10
• Failure to Appear $221.00
• Total: $605.10
• Collections (30 %) $181.53
• LPR Fee (25 %) $196.66
• Grand Total: $983.29
• When violator comes before the Judge and case is adjudicated, Judge currently is
assessing indigence level before sentencing per D.O.J. letter. A variety of options are
used for those who cannot pay before jail option is used.
• If FTA warrant is found and no judge is available, they are taken directly to GCSO
jail. GCSO no longer keeps them pending a cash bond or for a penalty of a day per
$100 owed, they are released on a Personal Recognizance Bond.
• Texas Legislature considered three bills regarding License Plate Readers.
• HB 2744: Would allow Law Enforcement Agencies and Municipal Parking
Enforcement Agencies to use LPR's. Never heard in committee.
• HB 3929: Would establish statewide rules and regulations allowing law
enforcement agencies to use the cameras for four (4) specific purposes; establish a
statewide database for the collected data; require annual reports as to how the data is
used by individual departments and would have exempted the collected data from
open records requirements. Heard in committee.
• HB 121: Established that a capias warrant (and associated fees that allow it to be paid
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in the field) could be paid by debit or credit card at the location where the person was
encountered and then the person could be released. This bill passed and was signed by
the Governor.
Communities surveyed:
Seguin is not using free system, have purchased cameras.
Cibolo is not using free system, would like to purchase cameras.
Alamo Heights is implementing free system but will not share their data and will not
use other agency data.
Kyle entered into an agreement and then cancelled it due to "privacy concems".
Staff recommendation:
• To not pursue the LPR system that has no cost to the City.
• To continue to monitor the technology and laws associated with them.
• To move towards purchasing LPR systems per their internal priority of future
expanded programs.
• To continue to monitor advice and best practices from the Department of Justice
regarding municipal warrants and other related matters to be able to respond
efficiently and proactively as this landscape changes.
Mr. Wait and Lt. Pulaski addressed comments and questions from Council. Councilmembers
provided their individual comments regarding the program expressing their views and listing
pros and cons. After much discussion, it was the consensuses of Council to have staff get
more information on the program addressing the concerns raised and come back to them at a
later time with a recommendation.
Mayor Carpenter moved to agenda Item 7 stating that there are individuals in the audience this
evening waiting for this particular item.
Discussion and Action Items
7. Ordinance No. 16 -S -34 — Conduct a public hearing and consideration and /or action
approving an Ordinance on a request to rezone approximately 8 acres of land generally
PH located at the Northwest Corner of FM 1103 and Old Wiederstein, from Single Family
Residential/ Agriculture, (R -A) to Neighborhood Services (NS). The property is specifically
described as 7.128 acres of land out of the Rafael Garza Survey No. 98, Abstract No. 138,
City of Schertz, Guadalupe County, Texas. First Reading (B. James/L. Wood/E. Grobe)
The following was read into record:
ORDINANCE NO. 16 -S -34
AN ORDINANCE BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS
AMENDING THE OFFICIAL ZONING MAP BY REZONING APPROXIMATELY 8
ACRES OF LAND FROM SINGLE - FAMILY RESIDENTIAL / AGRICULTURAL
DISTRICT, (R -A) TO NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES DISTRICT (NS).
Mayor Carpenter recognized Planner I Emily Grobe who stated Foresight Group, Inc. is
requesting to rezone approximately 8 acres of land from Single Family Residential/
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Agricultural (R -A) to Neighborhood Services (NS). There currently is a house on the property
that will be demolished with the redevelopment of this property.
The public hearing notice was published in "The Daily Commercial Recorder" on September
16, 2016 and the "Herald" on September 21, 2016. Thirty -three (33) public hearing notices
were mailed to surrounding property owners within two hundred (200) feet of the subject
property on September 1, 2016, prior to the Planning & Zoning Commission meeting that
took place on September 14, 2016. At the time of this report being prepared, staff received
three (3) responses in favor and four (4) responses opposed to the request.
The Comprehensive Land Plan identifies the subject property as Industrial which is intended
to maintain lower intensity industrial, flex office, and logistics uses. This land use designation
allows for both small, incremental development and large development of the area with light
industrial and commercial uses.
Comprehensive Land Plan Goals and Objectives: The proposed rezoning request is generally
in conformance with the goals and objectives of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. The
proposed zone change supports the commercial use that the Future Land Use Plan calls for in
this area. The Neighborhood Services zoning district would allow for the commercial use
desired per the Comprehensive Land Plan at a lower intensity than the primary industrial
zoning.
• Impact on Infrastructure: The proposed zoning request should have a minimal impact on the
existing and planned water and wastewater systems. The project is within the City of Schertz
service area.
Impact on Public Facilities /Services: The proposed rezoning request should have a minimal
impact on public services, such as schools, fire, police, parks and sanitation services.
Compatibility with Existing and Potential Ad
iacent Land Uses: The subject property is
currently surrounded by single - family residential, Right -of -Way, and manufacturing. The
surrounding area including the Single - Family Residential are all identified on the
Comprehensive Land Use Plan to have the same industrial land use designation. The proposed
Neighborhood Services zoning conforms with the intent of the Industrial land use designation
while providing a more compatible land use to the adjacent residential.
The Comprehensive Land Use Plan section which describes this area was adopted in 2002. At
that time the subject property and surrounding area were zoned for single - family residential
uses. No City initiated zonings were undertaken to rezone these properties from residential to
industrial and subsequently the adjacent area developed as single - family residential with the
creation of the Belmont Park, and Riata Subdivisions, whose master development plans were
approved in 2003 and 2006 respectively. The development of the Riata and Belmont Park
subdivisions created a change in conditions for the surrounding area and for the subject
property.
The 2013 Schertz Sector Plan amendment to the Comprehensive Land Use Plan focused on
the northern and southern areas of Schertz and did not examine this area. Since the Schertz
Sector Plan amendment did not review this area, the subject property along with the Riata and
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Belmont Park Subdivisions are still identified on the Future Land Use Plan as Industrial use
despite being single family. The Comprehensive Land Use Plan specifically describes that
industrial zoning should not be directly adjacent to residential uses. As such Staff looked to
the Comprehensive Plan as a whole to offer guidance.
The hard corner of FM 1103 and Old Wiederstein Road is what the Comprehensive Land Use
Plan would consider a node for commercial development. In keeping with the commercially
desired land use described in the Comprehensive Land Use Plan, Neighborhood Services is an
alternative that would allow for limited service and retail uses to more conveniently
accommodate the needs of the nearby residential uses and existing commercial uses.
The Planning and Zoning Commission conducted the public hearing on September 14, 2016
and offered a recommendation of approval by a unanimous vote. Staff recommends approval
of the rezoning request based on its compatibility with the adjacent land uses and compliance
with the Comprehensive Land Plan. Ms. Grobe addressed comments and questions from
Council.
Mayor Carpenter opened the public hearing and recognized the following:
Mr. Patrick Christianson, representing the applicant, who stated he was here to address
any questions Council may have.
Mr. Robert Brockman, 1000 Elbel Road, who inquired if notification was provided to
those individuals outside the city limits.
Mr. Jeff Womack, 2944 Mineral Springs, who wanted to know if they had any idea as
to who may be going in on the property in question.
As no one else spoke, Mayor Carpenter closed the public hearing and recognized Ms. Grobe
who stated that yes notification was given to the two (2) property owners which were outside
the city limits, as they are within the 200 foot notice requirement. Ms. Grobe stated that
regarding the uses allowed in Neighborhood Services, some include a restaurant, pharmacy,
pet store, medical, dental or professional office clinic, antique shops, day care centers, florists,
and that's just to name a few of them.
Mayor Carpenter recognized Mr. Patrick Christianson who stated that they are primarily
proposing a CVS Pharmacy.
Mayor Carpenter recognized Councilmember Azzoz who moved, seconded by Mayor Pro -
Tem Edwards to approve Ordinance No. 16 -5 -34 first reading. The vote was unanimous
with Mayor Pro -Tem Edwards, Councilmembers Fowler, Azzoz, John and Thompson
voting for and no one voting no. Motion passed.
8. Discussion regarding placing an item or items on a future city council agenda or agendas
- Discussion and possible action regarding the placement of an item or items on a future city
council agenda for the purposes of discussing, instructing the City Manager to modify,
change, end, re -open or otherwise redirect a police department investigation, particularly as it
pertains to the investigation into the murder of Henry Gutierrez. (Mayor /Council)
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Mayor Carpenter stated that this is not something that they have done often. He said the
discussion this evening is about whether or not we are going to put this item on a future
agenda —it is not a time to discuss the merits or things they might discuss under a regular
agenda item. Any philosophical discussion should be limited and/or handled under Item 9.
Councilmember Azzoz stated that last week he simply requested this be put on the agenda to
ask the City Manager to ask the Chief of Police to ask for outside help in this matter. He did
not recall asking for it to be a discussion. Mayor Carpenter responded that he had then stated
we will put this on the agenda for discussion of whether it should be placed on an agenda and
no one objected at that time. He feels this is the appropriate course of action now.
Councilmember Fowler stated he thinks it is not appropriate, as they cannot take any action
against the Police Department. Councilmember Thompson said he does not believe the City
Council has the expertise, training, background, etc. If they adopt this it will go against what
is stated in the City Charter as to what Council may and may not do.
Councilmember Azzoz spoke again to clarify that he is not asking for Council to interfere;
rather that our Police Department should be directed to seek any available outside help to
assist in this investigation so that it will not end up as an unsolved case.
After several more comments from Councilmember Fowler and Councilmember Thompson
Mayor Carpenter stated he thought they were getting into the merits of whether the City
Manager should instruct the Police Department to change or amend their current process. The
question before us is should we place this on a future agenda to discuss taking that action or
not. He asked for further fmal comments from council. In response he explained the
procedure that allowed for this discussion and subsequent vote on this business.
Mayor Carpenter recognized Councilmember Thompson who moved, seconded by
Councilmember Fowler to not place an item or items on a future city council agenda for the
purpose of discussing, instructing the City Manager to modify, change, end, re -open or
otherwise redirect a police department investigation, particularly as it pertains to the
investigation into the murder of Henry Gutierrez. The vote was 4 -1 -0 with Mayor Pro -Tem
Edwards, Councilmembers Fowler, John and Thompson voting for and Councilmember
Azzoz voting no. Motion passed.
Mayor Carpenter moved to the hearing of residents section of the agenda.
Hearing of Residents
Mayor Carpenter recognized the following individuals who spoke:
• Mr. Glen Outlaw, 3729 Forsyth Park who extended an invitation to anyone who likes to
ride motorcycles. This Sunday, October 16, at Texas Pride BBQ on FM 1604 is the 4'
Annual San Antonio Ride for Kids - an event of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation of
the U.S. It is a fundraiser for curing pediatric brain cancer. They expect to see between
100 -200 motorcycles out there. Registration is 8:00 -9:30 a.m. with the ride starting at
10:00 a.m. It is a police escorted ride. There is no charge to participate in the ride;
however, a donation of $40 is suggested.
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Mayor Carpenter moved back to the workshop items on the agenda.
Workshop
• Presentation and discussion regarding a planned comprehensive benefit review for all City
employees and how this relates to recent inquiries regarding certification and `step -up' pay
and other related matters. (D. Wait/J. Kurz)
Mayor Carpenter recognized Executive Director Dudley Wait who stated that two weeks ago
we had a presentation regarding the employee engagement survey. Out of that we saw that a
lot of our engagement scores had gone up; actually most of them did. We had a little
reordering in our lower scores. Pay, of course, was still the lowest at 277 out of 500, Internal
Communication was up from last time, but was the second lowest at 346 and Benefits came in
next at 351 out of 500. Those were the three lowest scores. One of the things that the
leadership team has committed to during this next year that we have shared with the
employees is that we are going to be doing an overall benefit survey. At that same meeting, at
the end, Councilmember Fowler brought up some concerns regarding certification pay, step
up pay or employees doing the job when the person who is supposed to be doing the job has a
day off; the education and how we train employees and how we allow them to use those skills
that they are trained to do. What we decided and thought about is bringing back to council an
outline of what our review is going to involve regarding the overall benefit situation.
The benefits that the employees of the City of Schertz receive are extensive. Normal benefits
people think about are health and medical, vision, dental, and retirement benefits through
TMRS, which are outstanding for our employees, and additional retirement benefits that they
are allowed to participate in. We also have all kinds of supplemental insurance programs such
as cafeteria plans; either a medical type of insurance, out of work insurance like Affleck and
others. We have an employee assistance program that allows up to eight free counseling
sessions per year per family member. We have some legal assistance insurance and a tuition
assistance reimbursement program that will reimburse our employees if they successfully
complete courses related to their scope of work, up to $1,000 per year. We also get into a
myriad of other pay, such as certification pay, clothing allowances, stand by pay, special duty
pay, step up pay, uniform pay, uniforms provided, and a whole other long list of these minor
benefits that are important when the situation arises for the employee, but are pretty extensive.
Looking through all of these we felt we could address Councilmember Fowler's concern a
little bit, but we think the issue he was speaking specifically to goes to the overarching issue
that we have as a City with certification pay and those types of benefits.
The City has grown into a number of these things that the employees see as benefits now over
the last 60 years that the City has been here. Some of them, like holiday pay, vacation/sick
pay - those are significantly explained in policy. Others as they came up over time were not
so well engrained in policy and some of those were some of the issues Councilmember Fowler
brought up. When you are looking at this, one of the things we have struggled with as a
leadership team is exactly how do we move forward in some of those arenas? We opted, even
during the budget process, when a number of these certification pay type questions came up,
to just put those on hold until we could do the benefits review. We believe it is important to
look at this, and he stated that as an example, we have paramedics that work for the city; we
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also have a hand full of paramedics that work for Schertz Fire Department. They are certified,
they get credentialed by the medical director Dr. Butter to operate as a paramedic on a first
responder unit. In other words, the fire engine or squad goes out of the fire station with a
paramedic on it and they can operate as a paramedic exactly the same as a paramedic on an
ambulance; they just don't transport them to the hospital. They stabilize them and get them
ready to be put on the ambulance when it comes in and the ambulance transports them to the
hospital. For doing this our Fire Department Paramedics receive certification pay. On the
other hand, the EMS Paramedic employees do not receive certification pay because their job
description makes them a paramedic. Mr. Wait continued with his examples of certification
and certification pay received by various employees. Mr. Wait stated that certification pay has
a lot of different avenues and areas to it.
Mr. Wait stated that in his prediction, as they go through the benefits survey and benefits
review it will probably be the place that we spend the most amount of our time because it is a
very broad, complicated and intricate place that we find ourselves in. There may be things we
may need to undo and there may be things we need to implement. Our belief in going through
this is putting a team together to start this review is that we are going to divide this up into a
number of areas and start the review comparing ourselves with other cities as well as
comparing ourselves with departments and internal departments within the city.
It is our belief at some time in the next six to nine months we are going to come back to
council with an overall benefits philosophy. We are going to ask council to help us craft and
to adopt a philosophy that explains how we move forward in the future. This is going to
encompass the normal benefits everyone thinks of, health, medical etc., and much like we did
with our compensation philosophy, where in the market we should be. This is a market driven
item that he thinks we are going to need council's direction on, and also as we get into some
of the minor and minute benefit details that may be department by department or shift to shift
within that department or even group to group within that department that we will also need
some guidance with an overarching philosophy about how we craft those so that there is some
semblance of fairness amongst all the departments and all the groups that interact with
specific functions that the city does so that everyone that is an intricate part to that is
compensated in a way, both in the compensation plan, as well as the benefits plan that help
them believe that they are a valuable member of the team.
This is the direction we are headed and this is going to be a large task to undo and to get down
to the brass tacks of what everything is, start to look at overall patterns, see what our bench
mark cities are doing and then try to develop a plan to start moving down the path that make
us competitive with the other cities that are competitive with us in the labor market.
Members of Council provided their comments of appreciation regarding the update and for the
vast and large amount of work that will need to be done to accomplish the overall review.
Consent Agenda Items
The Consent Agenda is considered self - explanatory and will be enacted by the Council with one
motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless they are removed from the
Consent Agenda upon the request of the Mayor or a Councilmember.
E
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1. Minutes — Consideration and/or action regarding the approval of the minutes of the Regular
Meeting of September 27, 2016. (J. Kessel/B. Dennis)
2. Ordinance No. 16 -D -33 — Consideration and/or action approving an Ordinance providing
that the Code of Ordinances of the City of Schertz, Texas be amended by revising Chapter
86, Article V, Section 86 -149 parking prohibited in front of the drainage channels on
Marilyn Drive and Pecan Drive in the Val Verde Subdivision. Final Reading (B. James/K.
Woodlee /C. Palomo)
The following was read into record:
ORDINANCE NO. 16 -D -33
AN ORDINANCE BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS
PROVIDING THAT THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ,
TEXAS BE AMENDED BY REVISING CHAPTER 86, ARTICLE V, SECTION 86 -149
PARIC NG PROHIBITED; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
3. Resolution No. 16 -R -77 — Consideration and/or action approving a Resolution authorizing a
Public Library Interlocal Agreement with Guadalupe County for Public Library Services. (B.
James/M. Uhlhom)
The following was read into record:
RESOLUTION NO. 16 -R -77
A RESOLUTION BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS
AUTHORIZING A PUBLIC LIBRARY INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT WITH
GUADALUPE COUNTY, AND OTHER MATTERS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH
Mayor Carpenter recognized Councilmember Fowler who moved, seconded by
Councihnember Thompson to approve consent agenda items 1 -3. The vote was unanimous
with Mayor Pro -Tern Edwards, Councilmembers Fowler, Azzoz, John and Thompson
voting for and no one voting no. Motion passed.
Discussion and Action Items
4. Certificate of Approval — Consideration and/or action approving the Mayor of the City of
Schertz to execute and sign the Certificate of Approval regarding Tax- Exempt Financing for
the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, particularly as pertains to Saint John Paul
II Catholic High School in Schertz. (Mayor Carpenter)
Mayor Carpenter stated he received an email of request from the Archdiocese of San Antonio
requesting approval of a proposed tax - exempt bond issue associated with St. John Paul 11
Catholic High School in Schertz, as required by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as
amended (the "Code "). The bonds will not be a debt or liability of the City of Schertz. The
consent being requested is for the purposes of complying with federal tax law regarding tax -
exempt financing.
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St. John Paul 11 Catholic High School is a qualified 501(c) 3 charitable organization, and
therefore is eligible to participate in tax - exempt financings. However, unlike a governmental
issuer (e.g., a city or public school district), 501(c) 3 organizations must issue bonds through a
state - approved conduit and must conduct a public hearing on the financing. Since the campus t
is located in the City of Schertz, Internal Revenue Code §147(f) requires that the "highest
elected official" of the City approve the transaction after the public hearing is held. The
public hearing was held on October 6, 2016, at 10:00 a.m., at St. John Paul II Catholic High
School, 6720 FM 482, New Braunfels, Texas, 78132.
St. John Paul II Catholic High School is re- financing existing debt, the proceeds of which
were used to finance the cost of acquiring the Saint John Paul II Catholic High School
Campus located at 6720 FM 482; and paying certain expenses in connection with the
issuance. Mayor Carpenter stated that this item is similar to the one regarding the school on
FM 1518 they approved.
Mayor Carpenter recognized Mayor Pro -Tem Edwards who moved, seconded by
Councilmember Fowler to approve executing and signing a Certificate of Approval regarding
Tax- Exempt Financing pertaining to Saint John Paul II Catholic High School. The vote was
unanimous with Mayor Pro -Tem Edwards, Councilmembers Fowler, Azzoz, John and
Thompson voting for and no one voting no. Motion passed.
5. Calling a Special Meeting November 21, 2016 — Consideration and/or action calling a
special meeting on Monday, November 21, 2016 to canvass the results of the November 8,
2016 General and Special Election and conduct a new councilmember orientation. (J.
Kessel/B. Dennis)
Mayor Carpenter stated there is a window to canvass the result of the upcoming election and it
is recommended that they call a special meeting on Monday, November 21, 2016 in order to
accomplish this.
Mayor Carpenter recognized Councilmember Thompson who moved, seconded by
Councilmember Azzoz to approve calling a special meeting on Monday, November 21, 2016
to canvass the results of the November 8, 2016 General and Special Election results and
conduct a new councilmember orientation. The vote was unanimous with Mayor Pro -Tem
Edwards, Councilmembers Fowler, Azzoz, John and Thompson voting for and no one
voting no. Motion passed.
6. Cancellation of the November 22, 2016 City Council Meeting — Consideration and/or
action cancelling the November 22, 2016 City Council meeting. (J. Kessel/B. Dennis)
Mayor Carpenter stated City Staff has found there are no items to be presented to Council for
action, and as practice, Council has usually cancelled the meeting the week of the
Thanksgiving holiday.
Mayor Carpenter recognized Councilmember Thompson who moved, seconded by Mayor
Pro -Tem Edwards to cancel the November 22, 2016 City Council meeting. The vote was
unanimous with Mayor Pro-Tent Edwards, Councilmembers Fowler, Azzoz, John and
Thompson voting for and no one voting no. Motion passed.
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9. Discussion regarding the City Charter, the general and specific role or roles of the City
Council - Including the aggregate view of the current members as to the proper exercise of
the powers afforded to the City Council, as a body, by the City Charter and State Law.
(Mayor /Council)
Mayor Carpenter recognized Councilmember Azzoz who stated he feels it is appropriate for
City Council to ask a City Manager or City Secretary or Judge to act on a council request.
They work at the will of council. Councilmember Fowler responded that he disagrees. They
do not micro -manage their City Manager. However, if they see something that is not right, they
have a right to discuss it (maybe in Executive Session) to examine it in more detail. If we have
a problem, the city manager needs to be allowed a chance to resolve it.
Councilmember John stated he thinks it would be appropriate to have a meeting (possibly in
executive session) with the city manager because now you are talking about the performance
of one of his departments. Mayor Pro -Tem Edwards stated he does think we need to sit down
and discuss their roles further, but on the dais is not the proper place for that discussion.
Councilmember Thompson stated he thinks what is being requested is already being done —
through a job description, periodic evaluation, and through trust. To get to the point of
instructing employees from the dais is crossing the line.
Councilmember Azzoz spoke once again and continued to clarify his request of simply asking
the City Manager to speak with the Chief of Police to ensure the department investigators are
taking advantage of all available options of outside assistance to help solve an open unsolved
high profile criminal case. Dialogue and personal opinion continued between councilmembers.
Mayor Carpenter observed that they appear to have a difference of opinion as to the role of
council. In the past, when they were a general law city, the mayor /council generally told the
staff how to do their job(s). In 1973/1974 the people of this city decided to switch to a
council/manager form of government where council becomes a policy making body.
In a mayor /council government the mayor is essentially all powerful and can instruct everyone
to do everything. The challenge when you have an elected body giving direction to individual
members on how to do their job is you move into a potential for cronyism and a level of
interference that can result in chaos.
The idea of the council/manager form of government is to have a third party run the affairs of
the city in a manner that is not subject to the whims of the elected officials. It is a kind of
protectionist type of model. The people of Schertz adopted that and have given us direction on
how we are supposed to function in our charter. Stepping away from that would produce other
serious challenges. It is not our purview to change the form and function of government from
the dais; that belongs to the voters themselves. This is why he has a concern with the idea of
instructing the city manager publicly to instruct a department head to take or not take an
action. A public statement like telling the city manager to tell someone to do something may
bring real doubt where there should not be any.
As there were no further comments or action from council, Mayor Carpenter moved to the roll
call vote.
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Roll Call Vote Confirmation
Mayor Carpenter recognized City Secretary Brenda Dennis who provided the roll call votes for
agenda items 1 -8.
Requests and Announcements
10. Announcements by City Manager
• Citizen Kudos
• Recognition of City employee actions
• New Departmental initiatives
Mayor Carpenter recognized City Manager John Kessel who thanked Council for giving him
the opportunity to go to the International City Manager Association (ICMA). He attended a
session on `Listening', which was a really good class and a good skill to improve on.
He noticed in the audience and dais there are six of the candidates for the upcoming election
and he wanted to make a general announcement that staff is looking at making some changes
to the master calendar dates:
*December 27 city council meeting — cancel and move it up to December 20
*January 3 — cancelled
Additionally, there will be a council orientation session (1 -2 hours) during each of the
meetings focused on major topics associated with the city and management of the city and
what it means to be a city council member.
11. Future Agenda Item Request for City Council: This is an opportunity for City Council
members to request that items be placed on a future agenda. No discussion of the merits of
the item may be taken at this time. Should a Council Member oppose placement of the
requested item on a future agenda, the Mayor, without allowing discussion, shall ask for the
consensus of the other City Council members to place or not place the item on a future
agenda.
No items requested.
12. Announcements by Mayor and Councilmembers
• City and community events attended and to be attended
• City Council Committee and Liaison Assignments (see assignments below)
• Continuing education events attended and to be attended
• Recognition of actions by City employees
• Recognition of actions by community volunteers
Mayor Carpenter recognized Councilmember Fowler who stated he attended the recent TML
Annual Conference in Austin and attended some interesting sessions (i.e., future
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communication techniques, advances in solar power energy, housing built with bricks or other
masonry). He also stated he appreciates the time he has served on city council for the city.
Mayor Carpenter recognized Councilmember Azzoz who stated he appreciated Mr. Fowler's
service to the city and he will be missed.
Mayor Carpenter recognized Mayor Pro -Tern Edwards who thanked city staff members who
assisted transporting Councilmembers and Executive Staff on National Night Out to the
various city neighborhoods. They did a great job. He also thanked the residents who
participated. He also attended the TML Annual Conference in Austin and realized we are
already doing a lot of things in Schertz that were promoted and suggested at the seminar.
Mayor Carpenter recognized Councilmember Thompson who stated he also attended the
National Night Out Neighborhoods and the TML Annual Conference in Austin. Additionally
he enjoyed working with the local students at today's Student Mayor /Council Program.
Adi ournment
Mayor Carpenter adjourned the meeting at 9:03 p.m
✓Michael R. Carpenter, Mayor
IST. r
4 Brenda Dennis, Cit ecretary
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